


me after you

by haetbit



Series: make you feel my love [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, this is seriously the sweetest thing i've wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 16:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17832362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haetbit/pseuds/haetbit
Summary: "Don't you know?"My answer is you.Or: how Youngho spent months thinking about proposing, only to get a shock when he did.





	me after you

It's been on Youngho’s mind for awhile.

 

The black velvet box that he's stashed away in the corner of his old bookcase, somewhere that he knew Jaehyun won't have a reason to go through. He has stared involuntarily in its direction every time he's in their study room, and Jaehyun’s caught him doing it a few times during the days they coincidentally decide to catch up on some reading. _Hyung, why are you always staring at that bookcase?_ Jaehyun asked once, and he got so flustered he almost knocked the lamp next to him over.

Thankfully, his sweet lover has only passed it off as another one of his weird antics and didn't mention it again.

He’s actually gotten the ring last December, two months ago when Jaehyun was away in Europe for a photoshoot. On all of the nights he's spent alone during that time, he stared at the ring as he lay on their bed that seemed too big for him to sleep in alone. He thought about how he should propose — if he should propose at all. They haven't talked much about marriage, but he knows that Jaehyun isn't against it, from how his expression was always gentle whenever they attended the weddings of their staff and coworkers. He knew that Jaehyun loves him, sure of it, so that wasn't a concern.

But what if it's not the right time?

“You're being dumb, hyung.” was Doyoung’s answer to that particular concern of his.

While Youngho would usually threaten to throttle Doyoung when he gets cheeky with him like this, it was an answer that he was hoping to hear. So he remained in his seat, flipping the meat on the barbecue rack between them quietly as he listened to his self-proclaimed consultant explain himself.

“You two have been together for close to 10 years now, hyung,” Doyoung paused after Youngho raised a brow at him, and corrected himself, “Fine, let's cut away those two or three years where you were both acting dumb and finding other partners when your hearts were still with each other.”

Youngho groaned, but Doyoung paid no heed as he continued: “That's still almost 8 years! And that's just how long you've dated, not how long you've met. Go outside and find a couple who hasn't gotten married yet after dating for so long; I bet you won't find any now.”

Doyoung had a point there, as he always did. That's why Youngho had called him out of all the other members to ask him to reason it out with him.

“But what if Jaehyun doesn't want to get married?” Youngho asked what might be the last worry on his mind for the night. By then, Doyoung was left with nothing but exasperation, and he clasped his hands together as his eyes stared right into Youngho’s.

“Hyung, you haven't forgotten how Jaehyunie reacted when Yongjae-hyung got married, have you?”

 

Of course he hadn't; Jaehyun had shocked everyone when he started crying after their manager has exchanged his vows with his bride. Youngho was next to him, fortunately, and he followed him to the washroom to freshen up. When they were finally alone and away from the public eye, Youngho tugged gently Jaehyun by his arm, turning him around to face him. _Why were you crying,_ he asked, brows furrowing further when he noticed how red Jaehyun’s eyes were.

“I don't know,” Jaehyun shrugged as he smiled sheepishly, looking a bit embarrassed about his sudden emotional outburst.

“They just looked so happy.”

That was the day he promised himself that he would make Jaehyun even happier for the rest of his life.

 

He supposed that it's time he actually fulfilled that promise.

  


Youngho planned for the right day to ask the question over the next week; it had to be a day where he was free and Jaehyun would be out of the house for just a short while. That included just the twelfth and fourteenth of February. It would be really cliched if he decided to propose on Valentine’s, but more than that, he didn't want the day that was meant to be Jaehyun’s to be stripped off its meaning, even if just a little. So he settled on the twelfth.

The twelfth also happened to be the first day that the both of them were free after a whole week. They had spent the first few days of February busy with their individual schedules, even missing the chance to celebrate Youngho’s birthday together when Youngho’s shooting for his advertisement had dragged out longer than expected. It was a bummer, but they've spent the whole of the previous night celebrating a belated birthday for Youngho, and their bed was a mess when Youngho woke up in Jaehyun’s arms in the morning.

He sat up quietly, careful not to wake Jaehyun up, gently tugging the comforter that was pooling by their feet back up to cover his shoulders. He took a few moments to stare at the serene expression that Jaehyun has whenever he was sleeping soundly. The expression that he adored, and didn't mind waking up early just to see.

Until he remembered what he was supposed to do that afternoon.

_Keep it cool, John. That's right. You've got it._

He chanted the same few lines like a mantra the entire morning; as Jaehyun told him about something funny Chenle did when he bumped into him at the company two days ago, as they sat next to each other at the dining table and ate lunch in usual, comfortable silence, arms brushing against each other's. Up till the moment Jaehyun was leaving their apartment to go for his scheduled gym session, Youngho was certain he was not breathing normally.

“Are you feeling alright, hyung?” questioned Jaehyun in concern, just before he left. “You look a little pale…”

Youngho laughed nervously when he reached over to press his palm against his forehead, checking his temperature. When he muttered _it's not a fever…_ to himself, Youngho gave his hand a gentle squeeze and walked them both towards the door.

“You're going to be late. I'm fine, so don't worry.” he hastened Jaehyun, who looked very confused but didn't say anything about his odd behaviour. With a _call me if you aren't feeling well,_ Jaehyun was out of the door, and Youngho almost collapsed to the floor in relief.

But there was no time to be dramatic, because Jaehyun was coming home in approximately two hours and he had lots to prepare.

He hasn't planned on doing a big event; none of those balloons or a thousand roses or candles — well, he did consider the candles but struck it off after considering the possible fire hazard it could be — but he still wanted to make it special. In his own way. So he compiled and printed some of his favourite photos of them together and those that he's taken of Jaehyun since they started training together, up until this New Year's (a back view photo of them snuggling together on the couch that Ten sneakily took at Taeyong’s New Year party for their team). It was just a few pictures for every year they've spent together, but when it amounted to close to 70 photos in total he got reminded of what Doyoung said.

They've really been by each other's side for so long, through thick and thin. And he's really been so lucky to have Jaehyun by his side all these years.

As Youngho stuck the photos up on the walls of their living room, starting from the very first photo at the doorway and then in chronological order around the room, he could already feel the tears coming. He took a few deep breaths and tried to swallow the lump in his throat, even went to the kitchen to get some water to calm himself down.

By the time all the photos were up, he was left with only thirty minutes before Jaehyun could be back home, so he hurriedly went to get the box from the bookcase and changed out of his loungewear for something more presentable. He spent the rest of the time on the sofa, looking through the draft of what he wanted to say to Jaehyun that he's typed out on his phone over the past few days.

He was never good at giving speeches; even after so many years of giving speeches to thank their fans and those who have supported him, he still stuttered and found his mind going blank when he needed it the most. He's counting on his mind to not mess up today, that he'll actually be able to convey everything he wanted to say to Jaehyun well.

**_16:08_ **

_Are you reaching home?_

**_16:08_ **

_ㅇㅇ Just parked the car~_

Youngho’s eyes widened at the message and he looked around frantically. Turning on the floor lamp that casted a warm glow on everything in the living room, he made sure that everything was in check before running to hide at the doorway to their bedroom. And then he waited, ears listening out for the sound of their door’s digital lock.

When the sound of Jaehyun keying in the pin finally resonated across the apartment, Youngho held his breath.

 

“I'm home —”

 

And that was it.

 

He couldn't see from where he was waiting, but he could hear Jaehyun’s footsteps, and he imagined how he was walking around, looking at the photos. _What expression do you have on your face now?_ he wondered to himself as he breathed deeply to calm his nerves.

When he walked out slowly, Jaehyun was facing his direction, and he had the sweetest expression; the small reminiscent smile that was on his face blooming wider when he noticed Youngho. His mouth opened, but closed again, seemingly wanting Youngho to speak first.

At that sign, Youngho cleared his throat and wiped his slightly damp palms on his jeans before going forward to hold Jaehyun’s hands in his.

“Jaehyun-ah.”

He started, smiling when Jaehyun chuckled and showed his dimples, only continuing when his eyes looked into his again.

“We've been together for a really long time, and I cannot thank my lucky stars enough that you've been by my side all these years.”

Jaehyun was pursing his lips and looked like he wanted to laugh, but Youngho was thankful for how he still nodded and the encouraging squeeze he gave to his hands.

“I know that we had bad times together, and there were times where we don't agree with each other. There probably still will be in the future, but I want to let you know that no matter if it's good times or bad, no matter what we're going through, I am and will be happy as long as you are with me.”

Youngho’s voice was going shaky, and he can feel the moisture clouding his eyes, but he's pushing forward.

“I want you to know that, I will always be on your side, and I promise that I will spend the rest of my life doing my best to make you as happy as you've made me for all of these years we've been together.”

Jaehyun laughed at him as his hands fumbled to get the box out of his back pocket, though his free hand was wiping away some of the moisture escaping from his own eyes. When he managed to open the box in front of him at last, Jaehyun was grinning from ear to ear, and Youngho has no clue why, but he's taking it as a good sign.

“... Would you marry me, Jae?”

Youngho asked in English, and Jaehyun said nothing in return, only keeping his grin. The tips of his ears were red as he wrapped his arms around Youngho’s neck and tipped his head up to kiss him. The box in Youngho’s hand pressed uncomfortably against his back when Youngho held him close, and he pulled away, pecking his lips gently a few times.

“Just wait here for a minute.” Jaehyun told him, and squirmed out of his embrace to run inside their bedroom.

Youngho blinked, a little surprised at how the situation’s turned out, but guessed that it wasn't a bad thing since he wasn't rejected flatly. When Jaehyun returned outside, he was still grinning, hands behind his back as if to hide something.

“Surely not…” Youngho mumbled, a look of disbelief on his face as he stared intently at Jaehyun’s arms.

“It's not just that, hyung.” Jaehyun half-explained in words before bringing his hands forward to show the exact black velvet case that Youngho was holding in his hands.

There was a moment of silence, just to let everything sink in for Youngho, and then they were both laughing.

“Was it because of —”

“That time in Japan!”

Jaehyun filled in for Youngho, and they both giggled over their how strong their telepathy was. When they were in Japan for their group’s anniversary event last fall, they had some time to themselves, so they decided to do some shopping together. They passed by a jewelry retailer that caught their attention, the only store that was of a quiet, rustic design along the street that they were on.

They both stared at the rings on display for a long time after they walked in, but only left the shop with a pair of matching earrings. It turned out that the shop opened a small branch in Seoul back in December, which was probably where they both got the idea to get the rings from.

“If you haven't done it today, I would have done it on Valentine’s.” Jaehyun said, and Youngho looked at him in surprise.

“On your birthday?”

Jaehyun nodded, unfazed by his reaction.

“I would have made you say ‘ _yes’_ even if you didn't want to, since that would be my birthday wish.”

Youngho laughed, a little speechless at his self-confidence but found it endearing nonetheless. He was about to reply how he would've said yes regardless, but Jaehyun beat him to it.

“My answer is yes,” Youngho watched as Jaehyun slid the ring in his hand onto his own ring finger. It fit perfectly, and he could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears just from the sight of Jaehyun wearing his ring.

“So it's hyung’s turn to answer.”

Jaehyun opened his own box and presented his ring to him, eyes filled with mirth as he waited for Youngho’s response. Youngho could only breathe out in laughter as he took the ring out from the box.

“Don't you know?”

He asked as he slid the ring on to his own ring finger. Just as Jaehyun’s did, his fit perfectly around his finger too. Jaehyun’s expression became more gentle then, and he wrapped his arms around his waist before kissing him softly.

 

“My answer is you.”

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i have been listening to paul kim's me after you on repeat these days and the more i listen to it the more i think about johnjae because the lyrics are so them???? and so here a fic that was inspired by that song 
> 
> but it also builds on my previous work (crybaby)'s point on how they got engaged -- pretty much how youngho proposed 
> 
> also if you include the scene from at the end of the season this would be the third time i'm writing about john proposing WOW i think i have something for johnjae getting engaged and married :') 
> 
>  
> 
> as always, thanks for reading!!


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